Late last week, the Biden administration came out with a statement claiming that it does not support so-called gender-affirming” surgery for minors.The statement came in response to an article from The New York Times in response to an article reporting that Biden administration staff pressured a
transgender health organization to remove age restrictions for sex
reassignment surgery from its treatment guidelines for minors.

The pressure to remove age minimums for surgery was spearheaded by U.S. Adm. Rachel Levine, who is transgender, and his staff. Emails showing this were shared by
the Times. Here’s what the Biden administration said in response (via NYT):

“Adm. Levine shared her view with her staff that publishing the proposed
lower ages for gender transition surgeries was not supported by science
or research, and could lead to an onslaught of attacks on the
transgender community,” an H.H.S. spokesman said in a statement on
Friday evening.Federal officials did not elaborate further on the administration’s position regarding the scientific research or on Adm. Levine’s role in having the age minimums removed.The administration, which has been supportive of gender-affirming care for
transgender youth, expressed opposition only to surgeries for minors,
not other treatments. 

Levine’s pressured the World Professional Association for
Transgender Health to remove age limits for so-called “gender-affirming”
surgeries for transgender minors. The New York Times reported that the Biden administration believed that age
minimums on this kind of treatment could “fuel growing political
opposition to such treatmenOne email excerpt from an unnamed member of the WPATH
guideline development group recalled that they had a conversation with
Levine’s chief of staff, Sarah Boateng. They wrote, “She is confident,
based on the rhetoric she is hearing in D.C., and from what we have
already seen, that these specific listings of ages, under 18, will
result in devastating legislation for trans care. She wonders if the
specific ages can be taken out.”Another email claimed that Levine “was very concerned that having ages (mainly for surgery) will affect access to care for trans youth and maybe adults, too.
Apparently the situation in the U.S.A. is terrible and she and the Biden
administration worried that having ages in the document will make
matters worse. She asked us to remove them.”A fact sheet from the White House on “Transgender Day of Visibility” in
2022 showed that the Biden administration was committed to “advancing
equality” for transgender Americans, including children. One way this
was done was by “providing resources for transgender kids and their
families” through tax dollars. According to the fact sheet, tax dollars are used to provide mental health
resources to help “trans” children, expand training at schools to
“support transgender and nonbinary students,” and to confirm “positive
impact of gender affirming care on youth mental health,” which includes
sex change surgeries (via The White House)

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network NCTSN), which is administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration, is releasing new information for providers confirming that providing gender-affirming care is neither child maltreatment nor malpractice.[…]The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health has developed a resource
to inform parents and guardians, educators, and other persons
supporting children and adolescents with information on what is
gender-affirming care and why it is important to transgender, nonbinary,
and other gender expansive young people’s well-being.